Robocall adds racism to campaign
Neo-Nazi group reportedly circulates anti-Gillum audio clip
A minute-long robocall with a jungle music-scored audio clip that has circulated in Florida is a clear sign of how quickly racism — subtle in some cases, overt in others — has seeped into the contest to determine who will lead Florida.
On Sunday, Florida Democratic candidate for governor Andrew Gillum warned his GOP opponent Ron DeSantis to be “careful” with his words in the racially charged start to the general election campaign.
Gillum, 39, seeking to become Florida’s first black governor, appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and responded to reports of a racist anti-Gillum robocall put out by a Neo-Nazi group Friday. The call, which contained jungle noises and exaggerated black dialect, was first reported by the Tallahassee Democrat.
Gillum acknowledged that Republicans quickly denounced the robocall call but added, “We cannot afford to weaponize race. People take cues from their leader, and Ron DeSantis is the leader. … [DeSantis] must be careful about his language.”
On Wednesday, DeSantis in an interview with Fox News said Florida couldn’t
afford to “monkey this up” when talking about Gillum’s progressive policies.
Gillum and some Democrats immediately accused DeSantis, 39, a member of the U.S. House backed by President Donald Trump, of making a racist remark. DeSantis, however, said there was no racial intent in what he said.
Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press,” asked Gillum about reports of an ongoing FBI investigation of corruption in Tallahassee, where Gillum is the mayor. Gillum responded that he was not the target of the investigation and that he has “worked to cooperate … We want it resolved.”
Meanwhile, reports about the robocalls that so far were reaching a North Florida audience started to circulate, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
“Well hello there,” the call begins as the sounds of drums and monkeys can be heard in the background, according to the New York Times. “I is Andrew Gillum.”
“We Negroes ... done made mud huts while white folk waste a bunch of time making their home out of wood an stone.”
The speaker goes on to say he’ll pass a law letting African-Americans evade arrest “if the Negro know fo’ sho he didn’t do nothin.’ ” It is unclear how many people heard the call.
In a statement emailed to The Washington Post, Gillum’s spokesman, Geoff Burgan said: “This is reprehensible — and could only have come from someone with intentions to fuel hatred and seek publicity. Please don’t give it undeserved attention.”
People on the other side of the aisle also spoke out against the telephone campaign.
In a tweet, Florida Gov. Rick Scott, R, the current occupant of 700 N. Adams St. in Tallahassee and a candidate for U.S. Senate, blasted whoever was behind the robocall.
“There is no room for any racial politics here in Florida — none,” the tweet said. “Florida is a melting pot of people from all over the globe, and we are proud of it. No attempts to divide people by race or ethnicity will be tolerated, from anyone. THIS. STOPS. NOW.”
And a spokesman for Rep. Ron DeSantis called the robocalls “disgusting.”
“This is absolutely appalling and disgusting — and hopefully whoever is behind this has to answer for this despicable action,” Stephen Lawson, a spokesman for the DeSantis campaign, said, according to the Tampa Bay Times. “Our campaign has and will continue to focus solely on the issues that Floridians care about and uniting our state as we continue to build on our success.”
DeSantis has said his comments were aimed at Gillum’s policies, not his skin color.
The DeSantis campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comments on Gillum’s remarks on CNN.
A disclaimer at the end of the robocall says it was produced by The Road to Power, a white supremacist and anti-Semitic group based in Idaho. The Southern Poverty Law Center has noted a recent rise in robocalls across the country, calling them a “new, high-tech, computerdelivered brand of hate,” according to the Times.
The Associated Press and Mark Skoneki of the Orlando Sentinel contributed to this report.